A Muslim woman from Ndirande, Blantyre who converted from Christianity some 20 years ago, said she prays ‘in the name of Jesus and Holy Spirit’ every time she goes to Masjid because she doesn’t know Islamic way of praying, Malawi Muslim Official Website can reveal.
A woman who is in form three at Ndirande Hill night school told her friends in class that it was difficult for her to leave Christianity and her parents did not love it but she could not do otherwise because she loved the Muslim man.
“My mother asked me several times, that ‘are you really going to Islam, stop believing that Jesus is a son of God?’, I said yes, because there was no any Christian man who loved me more than the Muslim one, so I had no option but to follow him,” she said.
Fortunately, her mother respected her decission and was the one to encourage her daughter not to forget to attend Swallah (prayers). However, since she doesn’t know how to pray in Islam, she use to go and just pray in the Christian style.
“I don’t know anything about Islamic prayers. My husband does not send me to Madrassa then, what should I do? I just pray in the name of Jesus when I go to Masjid,” she confidently.
If this is not enough, the woman astounded her Muslim classmates when she told them that, despite being a Muslim, her husband was healed from epistaxises because of her prayer ‘in the name of Jesus’.
“My husband had an epistaxises [nosebleed] problem. However, my former fellow Christian woman told me to pray for him. She took my hand and prayed for it and she told me to do the same to my husband,” she said.
“My husband has never ever allowed any Christian stuff in our house, and if he could find a gospel song, he used to turn off the radio. Interestingly, when I tried to tell her about the prayer, he didn’t hesitate and had no any argument at all. I started praying until the problem stopped, it is over five years now, he is no longer experiencing the problem. All these, because I prayed In the Holy Spirit,” she concluded.
However, her friends went on accusing her, telling her that she joined Islam because of the marriage and not wholeheartedly because a true Muslim can not do that, the thing she confessed at the end.
“Ngati sindimamupeza mwamuna wa Chikirisitu kuti andikwatire ndikanata? (If I had no a chance to get a Christian man to marry me, what could I do?) That is why I joined Islam,” she said confidently.
Nevertheless, all effort to get in touch with the family proved futile as none of the woman’s friends had her phone number and said they could not be able give us in fear of bringing squabbles in the blessed family.
This should be a lesson to our dear brothers in Islam, most women allow to embrass Islam for the sake of marriage and money not that they fear Allah or believe. Azibambo achisilamu akuwonjeza komatu most times azimayi achikafiriwa azimunawo akangomwalira they go back to chrisianity even with the kids and they are the ones who are in the forefront telling the Pastors ndamuziwa Yesu ndinasochera. Or Brothers need to change asamakwatire ma Kafir
I am tempted, very much so, to believe that your sentiments are out of tune with the reality on the ground and also not in sync with the religious text.
Empirically, it is not just converts who don’t know now to pray. There are millions who were born Muslims and still don’t know how to pray.
And on the flip side if this, you will also notice that not all converts are in this category of not having some basic appreciation of the nuts and bolts of prayer in Islam. We have some converts who have done remarkable things for the Islamic faith with leaps and bounds. I think it all speaks volumes about the degree of efforts that one exerts as blended with the support one gets in doing so, covert or not convert. You see in this story that she has been sent to the madrassa. Do you really blame her for that?
Talking about marrying Christians, I don’t agree with you that Christians are Kafirs. That statement sounds extremist to me and might even sound irresponsible, juvenile and puerile to many. The term “kafir” is a derogatory term referring to pagan or non-believers. Between you and me, we know that Christians are not pagans and they are not pagans. They are monotheists just like us and actually they are people of the book (ahl al-Kitab).
Qur’an 5:5 says and I quote: “This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book “
You can see from the story that somewhere, though not directly stated in therein, she was unduly influenced to Islam by the husband or someone working on his behalf and for his personal aggrandizement and she did accept that for purpose of getting married. This was wrong. The Holy Qur’an allows us to marry people of the book and it did not put any condition that (a) we should look within our faith first or (b) that after marrying them we should force them into our religion.
However, if the woman is a pagan, that’s when she has to become a believer first according to al-Baqarah, 221 and she can become a believer by becoming a Muslim or a mere person of the book i.e. Christian.
So my Muslim brothers who are not yet married, keep on searching for “women of your choice” (Qur'an 4: 3) within the boundaries allowed to you by Allah (SWT) and if you find that woman of your choice amongst people of the book, take your pick. It is not even necessary to force them into Islam actually if the meaning of Qur’an.
So, this can’t be a lesson to the brothers for they can marry a woman of the book and leave her alone with her religion for, unless somebody schools me now, I have never come across any religios sanction which says after that, they must get converted to Islam. If you remember Yasser Arafat who was a Muslim, he married Suha Daoud Tawil who at the time of and during their marriage she remained an Orthodox Christian. If anything, this is should be a lesson to some of our Muslim sisters who because of their behaviour they lure us away and sometime seven after you have married them they leave a lot to be desired. They think they can get and remain married to us simply because they are Muslims. Mwano, makani ndi zina zoterozo.
You are true. The problem is not the woman but the husband because he is the one responsible to send her to madrassa. And there other Christians who converted to Islam and still practising the religion even though they are widows.
@ Sheen.
The word كفر means ‘to disbelieve’ and the word كافر (kafir) meaning ‘disbeliever’ is also derived from the same verb. Christians and Jews (people of the book) are called kuffar (disbelievers) in islam because they deny (disbelieve in) what Allah sent to His prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and they also associate Him with others.
“Those who disbelieve from among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) and Al Mushrikoon, were not going to leave (their disbelief) until there came to them clear evidence”[al-Bayyinah 98:1]
“And whoever invokes (or worships), besides Allaah, any other ilaah (god), of whom he has no proof; then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, Al Kaafiroon (the disbelievers in Allaah and in the Oneness of Allaah, polytheists, pagans, idolaters) will not be successful”
[al-Mu’minoon 23:117] .
“They (the disbelievers, the Jews and the Christians) want to extinguish Allaah’s Light (with which Muhammad has been sent — Islamic Monotheism) with their mouths, but Allaah will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kaafiroon (disbelievers) hate (it). [tauba 32] (check tafseer ibn katheer).
So you can see that from these verses Christians and Jews are termed as Kaafiroon.
Be informed that there are different categories of kufr, Hypocrisy, atheism, polytheism=shirk (this includes Christians and Jews because Allah says
“ And the Jews say: ‘Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allaah, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allaah. That is their saying with their mouths, resembling the saying of those who disbelieved aforetime. Allaah’s Curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth!
They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allaah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allaah), and (they also took as their Lord) Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary), while they (Jews and Christians) were commanded [in the Tawraat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] to worship none but One Ilaah (God — Allaah) Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). Praise and glory be to Him (far above is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him)”[al-Tawbah 9:30, 31] ).
Hence from above verses we can also conclude that they are also in the category of mushrikoon because they associate Him with others. I had a lot to write but space was put into consideration.
However, I agree with you that Allah allowed us to marry women from the people of the book. But that does not change the fact that they fall into the category of kaffirs.
immediately this article came out, i tried to put my comment, but was not able to do so due to technical problems i guess with net, howver i wont comment much on the issue but rather give a notice to all that; we at islamic Information Bureau have a program called Tarteebus-Salat. initially, it was targetting reverts, but this year, we invite all muslim brothers and siters, reverts and those born Muslims who feel they have a gap in their knowledge about salat (prayer) to come to Limbe Islamic Information Bureau and to all other bureaus near you to learn about salat. the program is conducted every third saturday of the month from 9am to 12noon. the program is free of charge. just come with your writing materials and (if you have) a tarteebus salat book.
This is very good opportunity for all people to show their commitment to Islam and learn about their Deen.